Salary you need to earn to be considered ‘rich' in Australia in 2025

News.com.au

06-05-2025

How much more would I need to earn to be considered rich?
It's a question every worker has pondered at one point or another and, for many Aussies, is likely something that has been front of mind so far throughout 2025.
The past few years haven't been easy on Aussie bank accounts, with the cost of living crisis hitting people hard.
While the cash rate finally dropped in February to 4.10 per cent, people are still reeling from more than a year of rates being held and, prior to that, a period of prolonged, brutal rises.
Rent prices have also skyrocketed, with the median weekly national rent now sitting above $600.
Grocery prices are continuing to soar and wages aren't rising fast enough, meaning an increasing number of people are struggling to make ends meet.
Given this, it's no wonder Aussies are thinking about their salaries and what it would take to relieve some of the pressure.
Earlier this year, news.com.au launched The Great Aussie Debate, a wide-ranging, 50 question survey that has uncovered what Australians really think about all the hot topics of 2025.
Over two weeks, more than 54,000 Australians took part in the survey, revealing their thoughts on everything from the cost of living and homeownership, to electric vehicles and going shoeless in supermarkets.
One of the questions we asked was what salary a person would need to earn in 2025 to be considered 'rich'.
The majority of respondents, 56 per cent, believe you need to be earning more than $250,000 to fit into the 'rich' category.
The typical full-time Australian worker earns $90,416 a year, according to the latest ABS figures.
Comparatively, taxpayers earning a total income of just over $180,000 a year are considered to be in the top five per cent of earners in Australia, according to ATO figures recently analysed by the Grattan Institute.
Those with a gross yearly income of $375,378 or more are in the top one per cent of taxpayers.
The next highest response to our salary question was $200,000-$250,000, which 20 per cent of people said was enough to make you rich.
Of those surveyed, 14.8 per cent said between $150,000-$200,000 was enough, 6.1 per cent chose $100,000-$150,000 and just 2.6 per cent said between $80,000-$100,000 made you rich.
The highest salary range was the most selected option among all age groups, though the older generations were most likely to choose this answer, suggesting the perceived threshold for wealth increases with age.
As part of the Great Aussie Debate, we also asked people when they last received a pay rise they were happy with.
The most common response was two to four years ago, with 27.7 per cent choosing this option.
Just under 20 per cent said it has been between five and 10 years since they were happy with a pay rise, and 17.7 said it had been at least a decade.
This is just slightly higher than the number of people who said it has been 12 months or less, with 17.6 per cent choosing this option.
Concerningly, a significant portion, 17.1 per cent, claimed they have never been satisfied by a pay increase.
Earlier this year, news.com.au hit the streets of Sydney to see how people were feeling about their salaries in 2025.
One woman revealed the last time she received a pay rise was two years ago, which she revealed was 'two jobs ago'.
'Pretty sh*t,' she said.
Another worker revealed that every time she has received a pay rise it has just been in line with the cost of living and 'not really enough to change the way I am living'.
However, not everyone was feeling uninspired about their pay, with one woman saying that in the five years she had worked at her current job, she had received a pay rise each year.
'It is not something that was expected so it was always a surprise. There was never any feelings that it wasn't enough or not sufficient,' she said.
Those in the 18-29 age group dominated in the 'within the last 12 months' (39.02 per cent) and the 'I have never been satisfied' (30.99 per cent) categories, reflecting the varying challenges young people face when it comes to entering the workforce.
Looking at the responses by gender, women and non-binary/other individuals reported higher rates of never being satisfied, with 25.43 per cent and 34.77 per cent, respectively, choosing this option.
This compared to 18.4 per cent of men.
It comes as new research from financial comparison site, Finder, highlighted the significant struggles facing Australian households at the moment.
Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker revealed 20 per cent of households earning up to $100,000 would exhaust their savings within a week if unemployed, more than double the 7 per cent found in households earning $100,000 or more.
Almost one in five higher-income households could sustain themselves for over a year, while only per cent of lower-income households could achieve the same.
The research also found that 50 per cent of lower-income households have less than $1000 in savings, compared to 26 per cent of higher-income households.
Speaking to news.com.au, Sarah Megginson, personal finance expert at Finder, said it is fascinating when the conversation turns to what 'rich' really means.
'For most people this means having a total abundance of money – much more than you actually need, and enough to do things that only 'rich' people usually get to do,' she said.
'Living comfortably is different altogether. That's about working out how much money you need to pay your bills, have some fun and feel good and live comfortably day-to-day.'
Ms Megginson said that it is important to remember not to get caught up in and compare yourself to 'rich' behaviour people might display online.
She said things like flying business class, driving a luxury car, or eating out at expensive restaurants are not necessarily an indicator of 'actual wealth'.
'It's a much better use of your time and energy to get better at understanding your own money and figuring out how to get yourself into a better financial position,' she said.
'Learning simple things, like setting up a budget and investing to make your money grow slowly, can really help you out in the long run.
'Doing small, smart things with your money consistently can actually make a big difference over time.'